1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a device for educational and other purposes and is particularly related to a modular unit for use in educational institutions. More specifically, the present invention is concerned with a modular educational response unit for use by students in classrooms to respond to questions promptly and confidentially.
2. The Prior Art
Various educational and testing machines have already been described in the prior art. Examples of such devices may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,200,206 (Myers); 3,077,038 (Williams et al); 3,134,177 (Rozmus); 3,200,513 (Blyth et al); 3,286,372 Williams et al and 3,591,930 (Little). While these patents are by no means exclusive, they do represent the variety of educational and instructional devices which have heretofore been described and proposed for one purpose or another.
Thus, for example, Myers discloses an educational device to teach spelling; Williams et al's U.S. Pat. No. 3,077,038 describe a device by which students may be provided with individual instruction and testing; Blyth et al are concerned with an educational training device wherein a group of questions and answer cards are positioned within a housing and an answer sheet is also positioned in the same housing. The question cards are indexed one at a time into a viewing position and a space for an answer, corresponding to the indexed question, is simultaneously positioned at an accessible location. After reading the question, the student writes the answers in the corresponding space and actuates the indexing mechanism to expose his answer to the question; and Little describes a teaching machine which is automatic, electrically controlled and driven by a motor.
The educational devices which are described and illustrated in the aforementioned representative patents, however, have rather specific and limited use. It is a matter of classroom experience that teachers frequently propound several questions to which they seek an immediate response from the students. Some of these questions are susceptible of "yes" or "no" answer while others are of the "multiple choice" category. Solicitation of written responses can be tedious and time-consuming and, therefore, impractical. On the other hand, teachers often seek individual responses promptly and simultaneously. The educational devices which have heretofore been described in the prior art have not, so far as it is known, addressed themselves to this problem.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a device which can be used to give a visual indication of a response to a question or questions.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a device which is modular and simple to use in various classrooms and other educational institutions, particularly by students of tender years.
It is another object of this invention to provide a modular response unit which can be operated mechanically and whereby the students can respond to questions promptly and confidentially, i.e., out of the views of the other students.
It is still another object of this invention to provide such a modular response unit which is relatively simple to construct, portable and which can be conveniently used by students of all ages with relative ease and safety.
The foregoing and other objects and features of this invention will be more fully comprehended from the following detailed description of its several embodiments as well as from the accompanying drawings which form a part of this application.